In Florida, a Minister Preaches the Gospel of AIDS Awareness

Did you hear the one about the gospel song about AIDS? How about the pastor preaching about sexual health from the pulpit? No?

A recent study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the black community is "more heavily and disproportionately" affected by HIV than any other race in the U.S. What's more, the leading cause of death for black women ages 25-34 is HIV/AIDS. Upon seeing the devastation caused by HIV, songwriter-composer Carlton Burgess and Rev. James Favorite realized they had to do something to bring awareness to the people.

Burgess just released a poppy gospel song called “Love Never Gives Up.” He and four of his friends will be performing the song live under the name “Carlton Burgess & Friends” on Monday at a free HIV testing event in Tampa. He hopes to get out the message that God never gives up on anyone—not even someone with HIV.

“When I wrote the lyrics, I got very emotional, very tearful, remembering all the great people with so much talent who have lost their lives to this,” Burgess says. “For those who are still living with it, we have to love them unconditionally. We can't be judgmental; we can't throw away people in our society who are dealing with it.”

Favorite, senior pastor of Beulah Baptist Institutional Church in Tampa, Fla., says that, once upon a time, speaking about sexual health from the pulpit was unthinkable. Especially speaking about a disease like HIV. But when he saw the statistics, and the steadily declining funding for HIV treatment, he realized someone had to do something.

“Before we can save the soul, we have to save the life,” Favorite says. “That means education. That means prevention. That has to be our first priority.”

Favorite's group now trains local pastors in HIV and AIDS awareness so they, too, can comfortably and accurately discuss the disease with their parishioners.